Gathering Assorted Items of Baseball History and Trivia

I recently asked a question on this blog: Which MLB franchise do you most respect? Following on and contrasting with that thought is the question: Which MLB franchise do you think is the least successful? I think “success” pretty simply translates to wins, so on the surface this is an easier question. But how do you compare the Cubs’ century-plus without a World Series title to the futility of the Mariners, Padres, and other expansion teams? The Phillies still only have two World Series titles, the Pirates and Royals have their remarkably woeful stretches, which 2013 didn’t really erase for either squad. The Indians were one of the worst MLB teams for a long time, and still have just two titles. How should you weigh the different kinds of not winning?

I would have asked: Which MLB franchise do you least admire? But, I suppose most people would say the Marlins, and those who didn’t would name the team that’s the biggest rival of the team they like the most.

Actually, I would say the Padres. Why do they even exist as a franchise? Do Padres fans even care? There was a relatively short period of time when the Padres were competitive, and Tony Gwynn was a lot of fun, but other than that, they’ve been a boring, useless franchise.